JuntoBlog

Aligned and Exponential Learning: The Philosophy Behind JuntoClasses

This is Part One of three in a series on the JuntoClasses. This post covers the philosophy behind our Classes, Part Two will address the content of our Management Classes, and Part Three will discuss the Leadership Classes.

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Of the twelve Classes in the JuntoApprenticeship program, six are management topics and six are leadership topics. All of them are taught by seasoned CEOs and entrepreneurs who teach their topic not because they are self-proclaimed subject matter experts, but because they have developed a strong competency in the area by virtue of their experience.

Every company enrolled in Junto has four seats at each Class. We strongly encourage the Apprentice companies to fill those seats in each one, and for the majority of the program with the same four leaders. Doing so allows two things to happen consistently: aligned learning and exponential learning.

Aligned learning occurs when the company’s leadership team experiences the same Class at the same time together. Each person’s understanding of the topic happens simultaneously and is enhanced in unison, and they have a common language to speak from when discussing the topic amongst themselves. Bringing four leaders to the same Class also eliminates the “telephone game” from taking place.

The telephone game occurs when one leader attends a learning session or seminar, and then returns to the company and tries to translate what they learned to their team. A lot gets lost in that translation, whether it’s because of the leader’s biases, available time, or memory. In addition, implementation can be slower and less reflective of what the leader originally intended. And it can take up to several interactions and iterations to create the desired effect.

Exponential learning happens when these leaders all hear the same content and discuss amongst themselves what they believe is important, related, unrelated, necessary, etc. We believe that when only one person attends our Classes (or any learning session), it only creates 1x benefit for the company. But as more leaders attend, the organization’s learning goes up exponentially.

Because they can share, challenge, and question each other, we believe two leaders attending creates 4x learning, three leaders result in 9x, and four leaders (as we suggest) achieves 16x value for the company as a whole. Each leader’s perspectives, biases, and thought process is different, and by sharing those unique views and openly discussing their individual thoughts on how to implement the concepts, the amount the company benefits increases exponentially.

The JuntoApprenticeship and the Classes in the program provide opportunities for learning that translate into expanded mindsets, aligned leaders, faster implementation and increased value for the company as a whole.